The discussion sparked from the request to not post specific locations of owls this winter has a long history and passionate viewpoints on both sides. I personally think this is healthy and has brought the issues of ethical birding to many of our newer members that may not have considered these topics before. I encourage everyone to follow the ABA code of ethics and in areas where the interpretation of the code is not clear, consider the welfare of the animal. The ABA code can be found here: http://www.aba.org/about/ethics.html
However, during the debate I saw several references to the MOU and the MOUNet listservice. The postings on this topic have all been personal opinions and not in any way put forward by the MOU board or officers. Differing viewpoints are welcomed by the MOU and MOUNet. We realize our members come from a variety of backgrounds and interests and all of you are valuable to us as members and friends. The MOU does not censor or remove postings according to our personal beliefs so if you choose to post specific locations of birds the posting will show up on MOUNet and if you don't it won't. We also do not have an official policy to "ban" or censor photographs we receive other than those not meeting journalistic standards. To my knowledge, photographs have never been denied publication on the website or in print due to violations of the ABA code of ethics. Please do not blame the MOU or MOUNet if you disagree with a viewpoint expressed by one or several of the individual persons on the listservice, there are a thousand others who were quiet. MOUNet does have rules they can be found here: http://moumn.org/listservice.html The MOU is an outstanding organization if you care about birds in Minnesota. We offer top-notch services to our members (and others) including the website, the Loon, our newsletter, conservation initiatives, legislative and DNR lobbying, official state bird records, educational programs, field trips, Christmas Bird Count, workshops, social media, MOUNet, an annual meeting and scientific paper sessions, scientific and educational grants, and many other services. We are a volunteer operated non-profit organization who is funded primarily through our memberships and gifts. Each and every member is important to us and we feel that by being a member of the MOU you are doing great things for the birds of Minnesota through the previously listed programs. Thank You. If you are not a member we would love to have you join. You can join or renew through PayPal at http://moumn.org/signup.html or by mail at http://moumn.org/join.html Remember - You are the MOU! If you disagree with the operation of the organization, our policies, our programs, or anything else, you can find your MOU Officers here: http://moumn.org/officers.html and our contact information here: http://moumn.org/contact.html in addition our board meetings are open to all members and most of us will be at the paper session in December. Finally if you would like to see changes to the MOU then get involved there are many volunteer positions open and more that open all the time, contact your president ([email protected]) for more information. Thanks, Carl Greiner Vice President, Minnesota Ornithologists' Union ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
